I drove an electric van for a week – it couldn't compete with a diesel
Vans cover higher mileages and use more energy per vehicle than passenger cars, but they help keep the country moving. Yet despite their necessity, the market has changed.
Last year's registration figures for light commercial vehicles showed a rise of three per cent to 351,834, but the EV share was unchanged year-on-year at 6.3 per cent, despite a 20 per cent increase in new models.
That 6.3 per cent is well short of the last year's total ZEV-mandated 10 per cent; as a result manufacturers will have had to pay fines of £9,000 on the 13,018 non-compliant registrations amounting to £117 million.
This year the fines rise to £18,000 per non-compliant vehicle and the total ZEV mandate rises to 16 per cent.
Manufacturers have voted with their feet. Ford, which tops the sales charts with the Transit and Transit Custom, hasn't built a Transit in the UK since July 2013. And this year Vauxhall announced the closure of its Luton van plant with the loss of 1,100 jobs, citing the difficulties in meeting the UK's ZEV mandate.
While they attract grants of up to £5,000 against purchase price, battery-powered vans cost about 50 per cent more than their diesel counterparts and there are payload and range issues in an industry where time and distance is money. That and an expensive, patchy and often unsuitable van-charging network makes operators, particularly those from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), reluctant to make the change to electric.
'The natural market just isn't there,' says one insider at a van manufacturer. In fact, the industry is generally in agreement that 'natural' EV van demand is about half of last year's 10 per cent of total registrations.
But while operators are reticent, up to now the Government hasn't moved an inch. It has started a consultation with the industry, but a straw poll of van makers shows no great optimism that there will be a ZEV mandate sea change.
Even vehicle-producing giant Stellantis, which leads the market in EV commercials and has recently revamped its range across its four UK brands (Vauxhall, Fiat, Peugeot and Citroën) and three sizes of van, has its doubts.
'Manufactures alone cannot compel demand,' says Eurig Druce, Stellantis UK group managing director. 'The UK population [isn't] aligned to the speed of change the regulation is demanding.'
Commercial vehicles represent about one third of all Stellantis net revenues and in 2023 it sold 1.7 million vans and pickups, with a near 30 per cent market share.
It aims to have market leadership with twice the revenues by 2030, but against a background of cheap Chinese imports, tough regulation and crippling fines, will it bother to compete, let alone manufacture in the UK?
The Movano is the largest van in the Vauxhall stable. Drivetrains include a new 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel delivering 140bhp/258lb ft and a six-speed manual gearbox, which I tested; an eight-speed automatic gearbox is optional.
The battery-electric option has a much bigger battery than before: the new 110kWh gross/97.8kWh net li-ion battery is paired with a 270bhp/302lb ft motor offering up to 263 miles of claimed range and 0-80 per cent recharge via a 150kW DC charger in 55 minutes.
I drove both versions of the Movano in its longest wheelbase (L3) and second highest roof (H2) form, with a gross weight of 3.5 tonnes. The diesel has a payload of 1,425kg and costs £34,520 before VAT. The top speed of this front-drive van is 95mph, with WLTP fuel consumption of 44 to 31mpg and CO2 emissions of 169 to 240g/km depending on the engine. The fuel tank capacity is 90 litres which means the lower-power diesel delivers a theoretical range of 870 miles.
The battery-powered version has the same gross weight but about half the payload, at 710kg. After the government grant (which has been extended into next year) and before VAT, it costs £46,435. With a quoted 235-mile range, an efficiency of 2.11 miles per kWh, the EV has a top speed of 81mph and 0-62mph acceleration in 10 seconds.
These high-roof vans are almost six metres (20ft) long, 2.69 metres wide and 2.52 metres high, which is typical for parcel delivery work. A low floor aids loading, along with twin 270-degree opening rear doors and a nearside sliding side door as standard.
The three-seat cab is superficially well made, but despite recent updates it shows its age. The moulded plastic interior is tough and easy to clean, but not the finest of its type. The driving position wasn't up to much either; my shin barked against the plastic trim when I pressed the clutch and the driver's seat squab lacks shape and comfort, while in both examples the standard steel bulkhead forced the seat so far forward that taller drivers would find long distances uncomfortable. The bulkhead can be removed as a £150 option.
And while there are all the modern accoutrements with 21 advanced driver assistance systems, along with a smallish touchscreen in the centre, it feels pinched and a bit cheap. Oh and the emergency braking system is far too eager to activate if it senses you aren't going to stop, which throws the load around in the back.
The diesel engine is good, with decent torque, and the six-speed gearbox has well-spaced ratios for the highest hills and tasks, combined with a light, responsive clutch.
The electric drivetrain is even better, though, especially in town, where the sprightly press-and-go acceleration removes a lot of the stress of piloting a large panel van.
But in contrast with the diesel van's excellent brakes, the electric version's offer little grab at the top of the pedal travel and poor progression or power. There's a three-stage regeneration retardation to recoup braking energy to the battery, via steering wheel paddles, but in its most aggressive mode it is too abrupt and none of the settings works well at low speeds.
The addition of a half-tonne load didn't seem to affect the range in either van, even in town where it has to be accelerated and braked. It represented a third of the diesel van's payload and more than two thirds of the 3.5-tonne EV's.
The diesel delivered a solid 45mpg at 65-70mph – and much the same in urban driving. The journey times were fast.
As with battery-powered passenger cars, speed really took its toll on the electric van. Against the published 235 miles, the range around town in 6C temperatures was about 210 miles at an average of about 15mph. On a long motorway section at 60mph the predicted range fell to 190 miles, while at 70mph it read 150 miles. That range drop-off at speed is catastrophic – imagine the stress of attempting to deliver within a tight deadline.
The journey time in the diesel van was about 6.5 hours including stops; in the EV the same distance, including waiting for chargers, was more than 10 hours. I had to recharge twice and the van developed a fault which meant it wouldn't accept charge from three of the major networks.
For many operators these figures simply don't add up. An electric model costs £12,000 more than an identically-sized diesel, for a van which travels a quarter as far on a full tank/battery (costing £133 for a diesel and £88 at a roadside charger for the EV), takes at least an hour longer to charge compared with fuelling – and carries only half as much.
In its favour, on fixed routes, with gentle urban driving and possibly central fast charging, perhaps the electric version would make a great deal more sense.
So is there a middle way? Again, the Department for Transport's fixed mindset is making best the enemy of good. Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) drivetrains are a good compromise for mixed-use vans, when distance and loads are unpredictable. And the technology coming up on the rails is hydrogen, with fuel-cell versions of large and mid-size Stellantis vans coming to market this year, all capable of long-ranges and fast refuelling along with zero tailpipe emissions and an uncompromised payload.
For the most part, however, in the current climate battery electric vans simply cannot do the job they are required to do; given this situation, it's difficult to see how the Government can maintain its intransigent position on the ZEV mandate.
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